


The case of the missing scalemate

by tomcollins



Series: Apartmentstuck [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Detectives, Gen, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-28
Updated: 2013-08-28
Packaged: 2017-12-24 21:12:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/944712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomcollins/pseuds/tomcollins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"After coming out of one of those showers (she still hadn’t gotten used to a lot of these things) Terezi had noticed something. Now, Terezi still wasn’t quite sure what was wrong, but she could just tell." </p><p>when something dear to her goes missing, Terezi goes on a search.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The case of the missing scalemate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OneOddKitteh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneOddKitteh/gifts).



Terezi sat in the middle of her apartment on the floor. There seemed to be nothing peculiar about this particular summer day on earth, but something was up. After coming out of one of those showers (she still hadn’t gotten used to a lot of these things) Terezi had noticed something. Now, Terezi still wasn’t quite sure what was wrong, but she could just tell. Terezi sniffed around the room in the search. The room itself was decorated with many drawings in the brightest colours. Terezi had found that on earth there were so many more materials to use in her creations of pure artistic beauty (well, that’s what she thought they were). Her favourite materials were the ones called “felt tip markers” and “highlighters”. Yes, Terezi clapped in delight, oh how she loved highlighters. The drawings of course, were not confined to paper on the walls, in a particularly quiet day Terezi had decided to paint her sofa. She chose as many colours as she could and legitimately just poured the cans out all over the previously cream coloured sofa. It was brilliant! Terezi sighed; she guessed she was just trying to make this apartment look/smell like her hive back home, but she knew she could never get back the dragon scales. Terezi stood up and walked over to where her cane was leaning against a wall. No, the problem was not in the decoration. Terezi picked up her cane and did an extravagant twirl, flourishing her cane and pointing it out straight, hoping that it would point her to the answer. What she pointed to in fact, was her pile of scalemates, which was placed in the corner of the room. She smiled and cackled under her breath. Terezi strode over to the pile and squatted down next to it. She was holding onto her cane around the middle, pushing up her red glasses with her other hand.  
“Soooooo…” she crooned with a wide grin.  
The scalemates just sat there because they are toys and everyone knows toys don’t have a conscious mind.  
“Which one of you is missing?” She questioned.  
When the plush dragons once again continued to be… well… plush dragons , Terezi violently picked one up and held it hard to her nose, inhaling in the delicious red of the fleece.  
“Well?” she cackled manically “Do you know?”  
When the scalemate failed answer her smile fell. Terezi stood up silently and tossed the red toy to the side. She rubbed her chin in a perplexed manner.  
“I think this calls for an….. Investigation!”

************************************************

A shadowed figure crouched on top of a cardboard box, purring and stroking a plush toy with a single long finger.  
“It’s ok pal, that little bitch won’t find you here” it cooed softly.  
A long nail gleamed in the thin stream of light that peeped through a crack in the ceiling. The figure smiled and used its nail to pull at a thread.

 

************************************************

Terezi thought, as she was on the bottom floor, that it was most logical tho go up, checking each floor. Well, that was the only way she could take out this investigation, but she preferred to say she thought it most logical, that made her seem a whole lot smarter. Terezi exited her apartment and entered the little lobby. She walked immediately to the stairs, waving her cane about. There was no way in hell that Terezi was going to use the elevator. She liked to think she had gotten used to earth technology but elevators were still something that she was scared to go near. The blind troll walked carefully up the stairs, sniffing out her path. With a few quick steps Terezi found herself on the floor of Aradia’s and Sollux’s apartment. She shifted her grip on her cane and used the dragon-adorned top to rap quickly on the wooden door. After waiting in silence for a bit, the door cracked open to reveal a quite cheery, but also quite surprised, Aradia.  
“Terezi?” she half-squeaked.  
Terezi pushed herself into the apartment and continued walking.  
“Pyrope? What the hell?” Sollux snapped.  
Terezi patted his face as she walked past before standing in the middle of the room with her left hand on her hip and her right hand holding out her cane in an almost dramatic fashion. She sniffed around the room, inhaling the shapes and colours. She cracked a wide grin and began the investigation. Aradia propped herself up so she was sitting on a cabinet and watching as Terezi started crawling all over the apartment, sniffing and licking every nook and cranny. When she was finished Terezi stood and pursed her lips thoughtfully, rubbing her chin a little bit.  
“Hmmmm….”  
Sollux looked at Terezi with a raised eyebrow.  
“What are you even doing?” He questioned.  
Terezi turned and faced Sollux.  
“I’m done here” She said simply.  
Without hesitating she exited the apartment. She leaned back against the wall and smiled to herself.  
“One down, three to go”

 

************************************************

“Time to motherfucking mess around a bit” The dark figure sneered.  
It carefully tore a button from the plush toy and held it up to the light. Grinning menacingly, the crouched figure snatched it up in hand and leapt down from the cardboard box. It crawled along the floor in a manner that mimicked the movements of a monitor lizard and stopped when it reached a large air vent. Using its claw-like nail it twisted the already loose screws and pulling the out one by one. It pulled off the grate, and while still clutching the button, crawled in.

 

************************************************

Terezi’s investigation continued through the third and fourth floor with the same results. John had been so unhelpfully helpful, offering to go with Terezi to continue looking. Terezi had, of course, declined this offer.  
“I’ve gotta do this myself” She had explained, pushing up her red glasses.  
Kanaya and rose had said nothing about Terezi’s arrival except that she should be careful where she looked as she “May find some things she didn’t want to see…” Terezi did in fact come across such things and vowed to erase them from her mind.  
Terezi now stood outside Dave and Karkat’s apartment, which was the last one in the building. She knew what she would find her and she was now preparing herself for the confrontation. She sucked it up grabbed the door handle. She swung open the door in a grand motion and walked in. Dave’s had popped over the back of the sofa.  
“Yo, Tez, what you doing here?” He questioned.  
Terezi ignored him and walked around to the front sofa where Karkat was lying across Dave’s lap with a bored look on his face. He glared at Terezi. Terezi swung her cane around and pointed it, just centimetres from his face.  
“Where is it?” She demanded.  
Dave raised a single eyebrow above his shades.  
“Where’s what TZ?” He asked.  
Terezi sneered and leaned forward in an attempt to be confrontational.  
“I think you know what. My scalemate!” she snarled.  
This time Karkat’s eyebrows rose.  
“We haven’t fucking seen it!” Karkat shot.  
Terezi smirked to herself.  
“Then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind me searching your apartment” She said.  
“What-“ Karkat began to object.  
Dave shushed him.  
“Sure Tez” Dave sighed.  
“You’re not going to find anything!” Karkat spat.  
Terezi set to work, inspecting the final apartment, and just as before, it was to no avail. She finally stood before the two who had their eyebrows raised.  
“How can it not be here?” She muttered.  
But then, she smelt it. She strode over to the floor under the vent and picked up a single red button. She turned around and glared at the guys.  
“Karkat what is this?” she growled, holding the button up.  
Karkat scoffed.  
“I don’t fucking know!” He said.  
Terezi fumed. She was going to get her scalemate back. She was about to unsheathe her cane sword when she heard it, that menacing cackle coming from the vent. She ran over to and ripped the grate off. She turned to Dave.  
“What’s this?”  
“It’s an air vent Terezi”  
“Where does it go?”  
“Everywhere… but it ends under the complex…”  
Terezi sneered. Of course it did.  
“I’ll be taking my leave now” she winked.  
Karkat rolled his eyes. Terezi pushed herself up and into the air vent and crawled along, leaving Dave and Karkat sitting there thoroughly confused. Terezi crawled along the vent until her arm slipped off the edge of the long drop. Terezi struggled to turn around so her legs were facing the drop but when she did she carefully crawled backwards and lowered her body over the ledge. She pressed her legs on the side of the vent and pulled her arms down in a quick motion to do the same thing. Terezi huffed and started to lower herself down. It took a lot of effort but she finally got herself down to where her apartments vent lead off. Terezi was sweating almost as much as Equius did when thinking of horses. She looked down. Terezi released her grip from the sides of the vent and let herself free-fall down to the bottom. When she landed a small pain flared in her ankles and she held back a gasp. Terezi crouched down half dove under into the vent of the basemen, hitting her head on the metal. Terezi hissed through her teeth as the pain spread along her skull. As she crawled along the most awful smell of faygo and dirty things hit her nose. Her lip curled. Terezi knew exactly what she would find beyond this point. Terezi crawled back and stood up. She whistled up the vent and as she expected the boys on the top floor got her message. Her cane came sliding down the vent. Terezi expertly caught in one hand and went under into the sideways vent. When she got to the end she smelt him and had to keep back a snarl. She pushed opened the grate and jumped down. The figure stepped out of the shadows.  
“Hey sis” He smiled.  
Terezi glared at her kismesis that stood before her.  
“LOOKS LIKE I BESTED YOU AGAIN MOTHERFUCKER” Gamzee yelled with wild eyes.  
Gamzee burst out laughing.  
“Where is it clown?” Terezi asked plainly.  
Gamzee gave Terezi a drunken smile. He turned around and walked to his box and came back holding a teal and red scalemate, stroking its head and looking at it with an adoring look.  
“You mean this cute little motherfucker?” He grinned.  
Terezi gripped her cane and growled. Gamzee’s smile turned sadistic and he grabbed the scalemate’s head, pulling it off making stuffing go everywhere.  
“WHOOPS” He said loudly.  
Terezi hissed and stepped forward. Gamzee smiled and grabbed her shirt, pulling her in and giving her a hard, sloppy kiss. Terezi pushed him away and glared. Gamzee laughed and tossed her the scalemate in two parts.  
“You can have him” He said.  
Terezi picked up the scalemate and held it to her chest.  
“NEXT TIME DON’T JUMP TO BLIND CONCLUSIONS” He cackled.  
Terezi pushed up her cane in her hand and swung it around with amazing force, hitting Gamzee over the head with a crack. Gamzee’s eyes widened and he fell to the ground. Terezi knew he wouldn’t be out for too long, so she quickly climbed back into the vent. With a bit of struggle she managed to climb up to her apartment with both her scalemate and her cane. When she got it she threw her Cane down and walked to her shelves. She found a needle and thread and sat down in front of her colourful sofa and began to stitch the scalemate’s head back on, singing the carnival theme under her breath as she worked.


End file.
